Paving His Own Path

Ever since he was a journalism major at George Mason University, Matt Lee has lived by the quote that late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs once said: "Don't be afraid.  You can do it."

It was this message that got Lee out there and gave him the confidence to apply to jobs and internships as a senior in college, with very little experience in the field of journalism.

"It was like a chip on my shoulder because I wasn't doing myself any favors by going there," said Lee of his decision to go to George Mason, a school not well-known for its journalism program.  "My one professor told me 'look, let them tell you no.  Don't take yourself out of it before you even give it a shot.'"

In essence, Lee's journalism professor was telling him to not be afraid because he can do it.

Following his graduation from George Mason in 1998, Lee took a job at Washingtonpost.com as the online producer, working mainly the night shift.  It was Lee's job to take all of the print content and put it online, but working online was not the ideal job that Lee had for himself.

"I wanted to be a beat reporter of some sorts," said Lee.  "I had no idea where this was going to take me and all the old guys there were telling me that what I was doing was just a fad."

By taking an online job at Washingtonpost.com, Lee was pursuing something outside of his comfort zone.  Not being afraid of the task at hand.

When Lee graduated, there were only three routes for him to take in the field of journalism: newspapers, radio, and broadcasting.  But, with the invention of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other interactive social media sites, journalism was rapidly changing.

Lee excelled as the online producer and was one of the key guys in starting the first blog for Washingtonpost.com.  This experience led to Lee getting a call from one of his colleagues who had a job opening at ESPN.

"I got a call from one of my old colleagues and she had a job opportunity at ESPN to work on the news desk," said Lee.  "I didn't get that job, but I did get a job as the lead editor for the Insider section."

That opportunity led to Lee getting to where he is now, as the senior blog editor for ESPN.com.  Four years ago, when he first took the blog editor position, Lee's staff consisted of only three or four writers.

"We hired traditional beat reporters to cover each specific NFL division and blog about them and give analysis within each division," said Lee.

Along with the NFL blogs, his small team of writers also wrote college football blogs, covering each of the major conferences.

Today, Lee's staff of writers has tripled to nine writers and their content has also expanded to to college basketball and major league baseball, on top of the NFL and college football blogs.

Lee is in his sixth year at ESPN and is a long way from that insecure college student from George Mason.

"One thing I would tell anyone pursuing journalism is to find something passionate and blog and write about it.  Find something you love because this is a tough business," said Lee.

Find something you love, and, oh, don't be afraid.  You can do it.